Good Eats - The End of Good Eats

The End of Good Eats

On May 9, 2011, Alton Brown announced via his Twitter that he is "retiring" the show after 249 episodes, and there will be three new one-hour episodes to be produced and premiered in 2011. The back catalog of shows were added to the repeat rotation of sister network Cooking Channel in the fall of 2011.

The crew of the show with their families are shown at the end of the first hour long episodes (Right On Q) eating BBQ while Alton narrates that truly a BBQ is just an event meant to be shared with friends and family. In the special thanksgiving episode of 2011, "Reromancing the Bird" favorite characters of the show reappeared for a last time: sister Marsha, neighbor Chuck, his niece Marsha Jr., the southerner uncle Colonel Bob Boatwright, the food agent Sid, Frances Andersen portraying uncle's Bob nurse and the dungeon master as a final tribute to their contribution to the show. At the end of the last episode, for the first time in years, Alton Brown did not finish the show with the line ""see you next time on good eats". Instead, he said, "Stay dark, America, " snapped his fingers, and the TV screen went dark.

The final episode of Good Eats, titled Turn on the Dark, was aired February 10, 2012. Alton Brown announced the following statement via Facebook earlier that day at approximately 2:00 PM EST:

"Tonight at 8pm: The final, oh so special installment of Good Eats. It's an hour-long ep called "Turn On The Dark". Chocolate fans take note. Repeats at 3am on the 11th, then Feb 12 at 7pm then Feb 13 at 11am. "And yes, I'm kinda sad." — Alton Brown via Facebook at approximately 2:00 PM EST

When asked about the end of the show on the August 29, 2012 episode of The Nerdist Podcast, Brown stated "I've put Good Eats into cryogenic holding. I'm not saying it's gone. I didn't shoot it in the head, I didn't kill it, but after 13 solid years of production, I needed a break."